Tidbits: Giants Third Best Franchise In History?


...posted by Gary Grund...

Mike Garafolo has an update from the Ahmad Bradshaw incarceration story that hit the papers yesterday. Bradshaw is currently serving a 30-day sentence on a probation violation. The good news is that none of these incidents that forced jail-time for Bradshaw have occurred since being drafted by the Giants last season. [Star-Ledger]

Dennis Dillon takes a look at how David Tyree’s life has changed ever since he joined the NFL. [Sporting News]

The Giants were ranked the 3rd best franchise in the history of the National Football League by Cold Hard Football Facts, trailing the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

Eli Manning and his wife Abby were criticized by the fashion police at the New York Post. Supposedly, Eli was underdressed and Abby dress was too short, too tight and didn’t fit well. [New York Post]

I still find it hard to believe that people actually get paid to judge how other people dress.

Archie, Eli And Peyton Manning Talk To ESPN


...posted by Peter Wade...

ESPN’s Hannah Storm talks to Archie, Eli and Peyton Manning.

SNY Video : Eli and Coughlin Talk Strahan


...posted by Anthony De Rosa...

Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin talk about the recently retired Michael Strahan.


Eli Manning’s Super Bowl Jersey Blasts Off


...posted by Peter Wade...

This afternoon, the Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from the NASA Kennedy Space Center. On board were seven crew members two of which are native New Jerseyans. They took with them the jersey worn by Eli Manning in the Super Bowl. Amy Elis Nutt of the Star Ledger writes:

The astronauts intend to hold up the shirt to one of the shuttle’s windows and give it a good view of the Earth, then take a few photos before stowing it for the trip home. Once back on terra firma, they plan to return the much-traveled No. 10 to Manning at a Giants practice this summer.

Pic via Sports by Brooks.

Eli And The Mrs At The Sex And The City Premiere


...posted by Peter Wade...

Pic via With Leather where they poke some fun at Eli for going to the premiere of the movie “Sex And The City” with his wife.

There Can Only Be One: Eli and Peyton Manning


...posted by Peter Wade...

Spoof on the NBA ad campaign “There can only be one”. This one features Eli and Peyton Manning. Cnbc’s Sports Biz.com has some more videos and writes a little about the creators of these spoofs.

Eli Went To Disneyland


...posted by Peter Wade...

On Wednesday Eli Manning and his wife Abby paraded down Disneyland’s Main Street. After the parade, Manning posed with the Tustin Pop Warner players for a team picture and then answered some questions from the kids and their coaches…

Video via Deadspin

Ranking The Teams, Post Draft


...posted by Anthony De Rosa...

Peter King at SI.com ranks the NFL teams in light of their draft decisions. The Giants get little respect as King ranks them at 6th, after New England, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Dallas, and San Diego.

Of the Giants he writes,

Eli Manning had a charmed postseason, but he’s got to be more accurate than 56.1 percent for the Giants to be better than 14th in scoring offense, which they were a year ago. The encouraging thing about Manning is that the day after the Super Bowl, he was already talking about the things he needed to do to get better. Smart, because he knows he has to be more consistent to be a top quarterback. This should be a maturing offensive team and a threatening team on D.

Thats what I took away from Eli this offseason as well. He quickly acknowledged that there was much work to do, and understood that the Giants were lucky in many respects and need to improve in a few areas. He even acknowledged his own shortcomings and what he planned to do to improve them.

It is a great sign and shows how much Eli has matured over the few short years he has started here. There is no doubt that the Super Bowl experience has given him a jolt of confidence and air of respect that he lacked from those who doubted him for so long.

Hat tip to Gary Grund for the link.

Deadspin’s Will Leitch : Eli Manning Is Awesome


...posted by Anthony De Rosa...

Neil Best’s ‘Watchdog’ sports media blog on Newsday provides the following video of Deadspin’s Will Leitch at a signing of his book “God Save The Fan” where he talks about his admiration for Eli Manning who he calls “the most awesome guy in the world”

Head over to Watchdog to check out Neil’s comments on Buzz Bissinger, who ambushed Will on a recent episode of “Costas Now” on HBO.

Hat tip to Peter Wade of Hot Foot for the link.

Jerry Reese Interview Recap


...posted by Gary Grund...

Speaking with WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog today, Giants General Manager Jerry Reese discussed the outcome of the team’s draft class this weekend.

Reese stated that he’s very happy with the picks he made and was pleased to have seen Miami safety Kenny Phillips fall to them at No. 31. The team had him pegged as the top safety in the draft and didn’t expect him to fall all the way to their pick.

Regarding second-round pick Terrell Thomas out of USC, he thinks he will fit well in the Giants press coverage style defense.

Third-round pick wide receiver Mario Manningham had been discussed as a possibility at No. 63 in the second-round, but the team thought there was a chance he’d fall to them in the third-round. There have been reports regarding Manningham’s past use of marijuana, failing drug tests, lying to NFL teams and recording a 6 out of 50 on his Wonderlic Test. Despite all of that, the Giants believe he can be managed well by the team.

Andre Woodson had just too much value to pass on when the Giants were picking with their sixth-round draft choice. A good reason the team liked him was his calm demeanor and how things don’t bother him too much, which Reese stated was very similar to Eli Manning. While he was projected a first-round pick back in November, his stock dropped all the way to the sixth-round due to the fact that he didn’t have a lot of talent around him at Kentucky and his performance at the Senior Bowl was not that great. Supposedly, Mike Martz, coaching Woodson at the Senior Bowl tried to tinker with his delivery and that may have caused him to have a down performance.

All the rumors about the front office disliking Jeremy Shockey are false. Everyone in the organization loves him. The doctors have told them that he will be 100% to start the season. They did not come close to trading Shockey this weekend, despite all the reports. Reese avoided answering whether or not Shockey asked for a trade.

Here’s a couple of tidbits:
- Reese hasn’t taken the time to go over what the NFC East has done during the draft yet.

- The team has signed around 12 undrafted free agents so far.

- They will take four quarterbacks to camp, though five are currently on the roster.

- QB David Carr’s contract is not guaranteed and will have to compete to earn a roster spot with the other two quarterbacks the team will bring to camp.